Waterloo City Clerk Kelly Felchle opened bids last(Mon) night for improvements to the East 5th Street parking garage.

Merit Construction Services of Farmington, Minnesota submitted the lowest of five bids for the work -- $465,000, well below the $550,000 engineers’ estimate. None of the bids was from a local company and Schindel says that’s because the project is somewhat specialized.

On another front, the council accepted a $30,000 Black Hawk Gaming Association grant toward the purchase of a full Spectrum Imaging System. Police Chief Dan Trelka says the sophisticated photographic equipment will help solve many crimes.

Leisure Services Director Paul Huting was asked by a resident how much money the city has spent, to-date, on removal, replanting and treatment of ash trees due to the Emerald Ash Boree; it's almost $1.3-million, so far.